1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to voltage regulators, and more particularly to DC-DC or switching voltage regulators and methods for controlling such voltage regulators in an information handling system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to these users is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, IHSs may vary with respect to the type of information handled; the methods for handling the information; the methods for processing, storing or communicating the information; the amount of information processed, stored, or communicated; and the speed and efficiency with which the information is processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include or comprise a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
IHSes typically include a number of electronic components that are sensitive to alterations in the voltage being supplied for the components to operate. Excessive positive or negative voltage surge events can cause catastrophic failure to the components. To provide appropriately regulated DC-DC voltage conversion for sensitive components, IHSes typically have a number of synchronous Buck voltage regulators (VRs). For instance, a typical portable IHS can have synchronous Buck VRs providing different level voltage to components such as a central processing unit (CPU), I/O (Input/Output) Controller Hub (ICH), hard disk drive, and memory. Examples of memory components include double data rate type three (DDR3) and type 4 (DDR4) synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM).
Generally-known IHSes configure a synchronous Buck VR in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), relying on pulse frequency modulation (PFM) to achieve power efficiency for light loads. For applications that can experience heavy sink currents that could lead to an over voltage condition, the synchronous Buck VRs are configured for forced continuous conduction mode (FCCM) in all operational conditions. In FCCM, sink loads, if there are any, can be (a) sunk entirely to ground (GND) when a low side synchronous switch (LS) is turned on and/or (b) sunk to input voltage (VIN) node when a high side control switch (HS) is turned on as well as during dead-times. The system reliability is ensured since there is no over voltage protection (OVP) event caused by sink load. The drawback of FCCM is the power conversion loss of VR during light load suffers. Thus the generally-known solution to avoid over voltage conditions is not suitable for IHSes with a concentration on light load features.